Medical patients being transported on stretchers or gurneys sometimes require oxygen that may be supplied from a bottle of compressed oxygen. To avoid having to separately carry or roll the oxygen bottle along with the stretcher, the oxygen bottle may be mounted directly on the stretcher holding the patient.
Mounting the oxygen bottle on a stretcher may be difficult for several reasons. For example, because each oxygen bottle holds a limited supply of oxygen, the oxygen bottle must be mounted in a non-permanent manner to allow medical staff to replace the bottle as needed. The base of the stretcher may provide a location with sufficient clearance to allow the oxygen bottle to be changed. Unfortunately, the person trying to change the oxygen bottle will have to bend over to access that location and, considering the appreciable weight of both full and empty oxygen bottles, bending to lift the oxygen bottles is undesirable. On the other hand, mounting the oxygen bottle at another location on the stretcher that would be more convenient for changing the bottle may leave the valve of the bottle exposed where it may be bumped or damaged.